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Mackerel   /mˈækərəl/   Listen
noun
Mackerel  n.  A pimp; also, a bawd. (Obs.)



Mackerel  n.  (Zool.) Any species of the genus Scomber of the family Scombridae, and of several related genera. They are finely formed and very active oceanic fishes. Most of them are highly prized for food. Note: The common mackerel (Scomber scombrus), which inhabits both sides of the North Atlantic, is one of the most important food fishes. It is mottled with green and blue. The Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus), of the American coast, is covered with bright yellow circular spots.
Bull mackerel, Chub mackerel. (Zool.) See under Chub.
Frigate mackerel. See under Frigate.
Horse mackerel. See under Horse.
Mackerel bird (Zool.), the wryneck; so called because it arrives in England at the time when mackerel are in season.
Mackerel cock (Zool.), the Manx shearwater; so called because it precedes the appearance of the mackerel on the east coast of Ireland.
Mackerel guide. (Zool.) See Garfish (a).
Mackerel gull (Zool.) any one of several species of gull which feed upon or follow mackerel, as the kittiwake.
Mackerel midge (Zool.), a very small oceanic gadoid fish of the North Atlantic. It is about an inch and a half long and has four barbels on the upper jaw. It is now considered the young of the genus Onos, or Motella.
Mackerel plow, an instrument for creasing the sides of lean mackerel to improve their appearance.
Mackerel shark (Zool.), the porbeagle.
Mackerel sky, or Mackerel-back sky, a sky flecked with small white clouds; a cirro-cumulus. See Cloud. "Mackerel sky and mare's-tails Make tall ships carry low sails."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Mackerel" Quotes from Famous Books



... satisfy. Therefore, our revenue of eggs and milk went a long way toward meeting the problem. We made out a list of cheap, yet wholesome, articles of food, and found that we could buy oatmeal at four cents per pound, Indian meal at two and a half cents, rice at eight cents, samp at four, mackerel at nine, pork at twelve, and ham at fifteen cents. The last two articles were used sparingly, and more as relishes and for flavoring than as food. Flour happened to be cheap at the time, the best costing but seven dollars a barrel; of vegetables, we had ...
— Driven Back to Eden • E. P. Roe

... day, and school is always late Monday P. M., but to-day, as they were all together, after they got through their corn, Ranty distributed some salt and mackerel Mr. Philbrick had for them, which kept them till six, our dinner-time, and they lost school altogether, greatly to their regret. We went to the porch to watch the groups, and as they passed us with their baskets on their ...
— Letters from Port Royal - Written at the Time of the Civil War (1862-1868) • Various

... was delivered entirely for effect. The office of constable in Trumet is, generally speaking, a purely honorary one. Its occupant had just departed for a week's cruise as mate of a mackerel schooner. However, the effect was instantaneous. From behind the door came sounds of hurry ...
— Keziah Coffin • Joseph C. Lincoln

... lad, letting him slide half-way down when we had all but got him up; "don't you see he's dead? His head's laid wide open! He's as dead as a mackerel! I'll swear we ain't got any right to get captured trying to ...
— The Cavalier • George Washington Cable

... horses, cows, asses, mules, sheep, goats, hogs, conies, and plenty of deer. The Lancerota horses are said to be the most mettlesome, fleet, and loyal horses that are. Lastly here are many fowls, as cocks, and hens, ducks, pigeons, partridges, etc. with plenty of fish, as mackerel, etc. All the Canary Islands have of these commodities and provisions more or less: but as Lancerota is most famed for horses, and Grand Canary, Tenerife, and Palma for wines, Tenerife especially for the best ...
— A Voyage to New Holland • William Dampier


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